Dr. Michael Wald, aka, The Blood Detective’s, Top Lifestyle Wellness Tips

Director of Integrated Medicine of Mount Kisco, P.C.

www.intmedny.com / www.blooddetective.com

914-242-8844 Ext. 1

1. Eat several small meals, 4-6, throughout the course of the day to balance energy and mental clarity. Known as grazing, this lifestyle technique is easy on the digestive tract, promotes levels blood sugar and helps maintain even energy.
2. Do not smoke.
3. Do not drink alcohol in excess – no more than two glasses three times per week.  If you have a personal history of breast cancer then no alcohol at all. According to the Breast Cancer Society no level of alcohol does not increase risk of breast cancer recurrence.
4. Increase the amount of whole, unprocessed foods in your diet (fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, raw nuts and seeds), relative to the amount of processed foods you consume (pasta, bread, packaged foods).
   1. Consider limiting or eliminating entirely gluten from your diet. More and more people, and scientific studies, are demonstrating that gluten is unfriendly to our immune system and can cause digestive problems, immune, diabetes and cardiovascular risk.
   2. Diversify your diet by including new and different foods each week.  Rotate the foods you eat so that you do not consume a given food every day.  Rotating foods helps insure more balanced nutrition.
   3. A fat free diet is not healthy.  Fat should constitute 20-30% of your total diet generally speaking.  Limit saturated fats (fast found in animal products) to less than 10% of your daily diet.  Coconut oil, a saturated fat, is a healthy exception to the saturated fat-elimination rule, because it actually lowers cancer and heart disease risk. Avoid fried foods, hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils and cottonseed oil (read the label).  Healthy oils to consume include:  unsaturated essential omega 3, omega 6 and omega 9 fatty acids found in flax seed oil and seeds, olive oil (cold pressed, virgin, imported and in a tin to protect from light), canola oil, salmon, cod, tuna, mackerel, currants, raw nuts and seeds (roasting the nuts and seeds saturates the oils in them and this is not at all healthy).  Store oils and nuts/seeds in the refrigerator.
   4. Eat a high fiber diet by consuming a lot of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds, and minimizing your intake of meats and refined foods (i.e., desserts, table sugar, candy).
   5. Ensure you eat sufficient protein each day (about 15-20% of your diet).  Good protein sources include lean meats, poultry, fish, eggs, soy products, beans, low-fat dairy products, nuts and food combining of grains/beans/vegetables.
   6. Decrease or eliminate refined and processed sugars from your diet.  As a substitute, use natural, unprocessed sugars high in the vitamins and minerals needed to help digest them, including 100% pure maple syrup, fruit-only jams, fresh fruit, honey, molasses, barley malt, brown rice syrup and carob.
   7. When you eat healthy carbohydrates do not eat them alone.  Instead, add proteins, especially from vegetable sources (i.e., quinoa, beans, lentils, legumes, temphe, raw nuts and seeds, etc.) to all of your meals and snacks
   8. Add sea salt to your regular diet to help keep your adrenal glands in shape
   9. Drink plenty of water each day (body weight divided by 2, multiplied by 0.8 is the number of ounces your body needs, more if you are exercising).  Avoid caffeinated and carbonated beverages; caffeine is a diuretic (loss of fluids and minerals) and carbonated soft drinks leach calcium from bones).  Herbal teas, fresh vegetables and fruit juices are healthy to consume.  Diluted bottled juices and naturally decaffeinated beverages are OK in moderation
   10. Chew your food thoroughly.  Chewing signals the “feeding centers” and “satiety” centers in your brain telling you when you are full so you do not overeat.  Chewing also aids the digestive process starting in the mouth and signals the rest of the gastrointestinal tract to “get ready” food is on the way
   11. Consider not drinking fluids of any kind with your meals or at least sipping fluids as opposed to gulping them down in large volumes.  Fluids can dilute digestive juices impairing optimal digestion of foods
   12. Do not eat when you are stressed or on the run.  Proper digestion involves activated a part of your nervous and digestive system which is active during a more relaxed state (i.e., like during a meal).  A different part of the nervous system is activated when you are up-and-around which is not conducive to optimal digestion of foods.
   13. Eat every two hours
   14. Supplement a healthy diet with a good quality multi-vitamin/mineral complex and other nutrients indicated by your individual health needs.
   15. Exercise: No matter the exercise you choose do it regularly. Choose a time and length of exercise and place it into your daily calendar so that it become a part of your life’s routine. It is always best to choose an exercise that you love, or at least like. Weights are fine and exercise bands are especially good for reducing chance of injury while improving stamina, balance and muscle tone. Aerobic exercises such as bike riding, running or an exercise class should keep your heart rate at between 65-75% of your heart rate maximum for best results (i.e., weight loss, and a trim figure). The length and time of aerobic exercise should be 45-60 minutes at least 5 days per week. The first 5 minutes and the last should be for warm up and warm down. Remember, if you’re not sweating you are probably not exercising hard enough!

Special Message to the Bride-To-Be

Many brides are concerned about fitting into there wedding dress. Especially if it has been purchased several months in advance of the actual wedding. Integrating at least some of the suggestions above will help insure that the bride-to-be will remain trim enough to look great in her gown.